US2177274A - Watt-hour meter compensation - Google Patents

Description

1939- T. D. BARNES HOUR METER COMPENSATION Filed April 28, 1938 WATT l-Magnetic Material INVENTOR Saturalin .l Shunt:

, t. P a r O m P Progressiuel ITNESSES:

Patented Oct. 24, 1939 PATENT OFFICE WATT-HOUR METER COMPENSATION Thomas D. Barnes, Newark, N. J., assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 28, 1938, Serial No. 204,719

14 Claims.

This invention relates to a means for controlling the distribution of magnetic flux in a magnetic structure and it has particular relation to means for compensating the electromagnets of induction -6 disk type'instruments for errors produced under heavy load conditions.

Induction type instruments such as watt-hour meters ordinarily comprise a magnetic structure for producing a shifting magnetic field in which an electro-conductive disk or element is placed for rotation. As is well known, the accuracy of such instruments under normal conditions has been developed to a high level, but under overload conditions the accuracy of such instruments is unsatisfactory. One of the primary reasons for the failure of such instruments to operate successfully under overloads is based on the increased damping action of the series or current component of the driving magnetic flux. This damping action causes the disk of an instrument to rotate too slowly under excessive loads, and if the instrument is a watt-hour meter, it will register too low a quantity.

Prior art instruments of this character have employed saturable magnetic shunts for partially compensating for errors present under overload conditions. Such a shunt was placed between the series poles of the electromagnet employed in an instrument, and bypassed a portion of the flux carried by said poles away from the disk'or other rotative element of the instrument. In the hunt heretofore provided the flux distribution was substantially uniform throughout the shunt, so that the shunt saturated essentially as a unit at a certain value of flux loading This saturationresulted in a somewhat abrupt decrease of the proportion of the flux which passed through the shunt, and therefore tended to over-increase the speed of the rotative element when such saturation took place. The shunt was not entirely satisfactory because of the abrupt nature of the control which it exercised, and because of the limited range of control available.

In my prior application Serial No. 144,154, filed May 22, 1937, now Patent No. 2,162,522, issued June 13, 1939, of which this is a continuation-inpart, I have disclosed an improvement over the prior art shunt wherein a more gradual compensation of instruments is effected. This is accomplished by placing under the shunt magnetic extensions from the pole members. These extensions vary the flux distribution in the shunt to produce a high flux density at the center of the shunt which gradually falls to a lower flux density @I..-ai. achendofthe sh nt-,.QQn e n a the flux loading increases such a shunt first saturates at its center section, and the zone of saturation gradually increases towards the ends of the shunt. Not only does this shunt effect a control because of the decrease in the rate of change of flux passing therethrough, but, due to the fact that this gradual shift towards the ends of the shunt tends to move the effective flux distribution in the pole faces of the electromagnet gradually away from the axis of the rotative element, the effective 10 torque arm between each pole face and the disk axis is increased.

Although the shunt disclosed in my above-mentioned application is capable of a considerable range of control, I have found that a still further control may be provided by locating the shunt adjacent that portion of the electromagnet which is near to the axis of the rotative element. When such a shunt saturates not only are the controls described in the preceding paragraph effected, but an additional control is present for the reasons that as the shunt saturates the eifective flux distribution in the pole face is given a component shift at right angles to the length of the shunt thereby increasing still further the effective torque arm. I provide a still further control by positioning in parallel with this shunt a second shunt which saturates at a higher value of the magnetic flux generated by the electromagnet.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a control means for the flux distribution in electromagnets having an extended range of control.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a plurality of shunt members for an electromagnet which saturate at different values of the magnetic flux in said electromagnet.

. Another object of my invention is to provide a shunt unit for induction disk instruments which extends the accuracy of such instruments to several times the normal operating range of the instruments.

It is a further object of my invention to provide for an electromagnet subject to a variable magnetic flux, a shunt unit which exercises a series of successive controls over the flux distribution in the electromagnet.

It is a further object of my invention to provide between the poles of an induction disk instrument a shunt unit which moves the effective flux in the poles away from the disk axis as the magnetic flux in the poles increases.

It is a still further object of my invention to provide an improved and simplified construction for a unit comprising a plurality of shunt members. 55

Further objects of my invention will be apparent from the following description of my invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a view in elevation, with parts in section, of an electromagnet embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view in elevation, with parts in section, of a pair of pole members provided with a prior art shunt.

Fig. 3 is a detail view in elevation, with parts in section, of a pair of pole members provided with my improved shunt construction.

Fig. 4 is a view in plan of the structure shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of a shunt unit suitable for use in my invention.

Fig. 6 is a side view of the shunt unit shown in Fig. 5, and

Fig. 7 is a view in elevation of a modification of my invention.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1 discloses an electromagnet core I usually formed of laminated iron, provided with a polar extension 2 about which is positioned :a potential coil 3 shown in dotted lines. The electromagnet core I also carries a pair of polar extensions 4 which are provided with current coils 5 also shown in dotted lines. Between the polar extensions 2 and 4 is positioned an .electro-co-nductive disk 6 which is mounted for rotation by the flux produced in the gap between the extensions 2, 4 by the coils 3, 5. The construction thus far described is substantially similar to the constructions ordinarily employed in conventional types of watt-hour meters.

In order tocompensate for errors due to overloading of the structure shown in Fig. 1, it has been customary to place a magnetic saturable shunt between the polar extensions 4. An example of this prior art shunt is shown in Fig. 2, wherein .a shunt I is shown in position between a pair of current pole members 8. The shunt is spaced from the pole members 8 by means of a non-magnetic spacer 9 which, for example, may be of brass. The shunt I is so positioned with reference to the pole members that substantially all of the flux which it receives enters through the edges of the shunt. Consequently, the flux distribution throughout the entire shunt is relatively uniform and the shunt saturates essentially as a unit as the magnetic flux passing therethrough increases.

In order to extend the range of correction of such a shunt, I provide magnetic extensions or auxiliary pole shoes In between a pair of pole members II having main pole faces P4 as shown in Fig. 3. Above these extensions, that is, between them and the disk, I locate a magnetic, saturab-le shunt member I2 which is spaced from the pole members II and the extensions ID by a non-magnetic spacer I3 which may be constructed of brass. The shunt I2 now not only receives flux through its edges, but also through its lower face from the extensions I0. These extensions so modify the flux distribution in the shunt I2 that the shunt has a maximumflux density at its center, and a gradually decreasing flux density towards its ends. This may be readily understood by reference to Fig. 3. The pole members I I may be the series or current poles of 2. watthour meter, and correspond to the polar extensions 4 of Fig. 1.

For explanato y purposes, in Fig. 3 the shunt is shown as broken up into a plurality of sections density greater than that present in the section SI by the amount due to the flux received from the portion of the extension I!) lying between the sections S, SI, and greater than the flux.

density in the section S2 by the amount of flux entering the shunt through the portion of the extension 10 lying between the sections S and S2. Thus the shunt has a variation in flux density which causes'it to saturate first in the section S and then gradually outwardly towards the sections SI and S2.

As the shunt saturates several control actions are produced. my theory, the gradual saturation causes a gradiual and controllable decrease in the amount of fluxbypass'ed through the shunt andacorresponding increase in the proportion of the flux leaving the main pole faces P4. The shunt also gradually extends a zone of greater reluctance over the extensions I0 and therefore decreases the proportion of leakage flux entering the disk 6 from. the extensions Ill. The various actions of the shunt are such that the effective pole face of each pole member II tends to fall from a value P1 as shown in Fig. 3 gradually towards a value P4. It will be noted that the final pole face P4 has an effective distance from the axis of rotation of the disk 6 that is greater than the corresponding distance for the pole face P1. Consequently, the effective torque arm for the flux In the first place, according to' emanating from the pole face P4 is greater, and V the increased control effect of my shunt is partly due to this extension of the torque arm. The theory which I have evolved for the behavior of this shunt is more fully presented in my abovementioned application. For best results, the

, magnetic extensions I 0 should underlie an appreciable portion of the magnetic shunt. As shown in Fig. 3, a small non-magnetic gap is preferably left between the extensions; otherwise the shunt would be bridged by a solid magnetic section which would decrease the effect of the shunt and the working flux leaving the series pole.

I have found that a further control may be exercised by the shunt if it ispositioned adjacent one edge of the pole members II. This construction is shown in Fig. 4, wherein the shunt section I2 is located adjacent the portion of the pole members I I nearer to the axis I4 of rotation of the disk 6 which is shown in dotted lines. If the shunt section I2 were symmetrically positioned with reference to the pole members II, as

it saturates the flux distribution in the pole faces,

i;'e., the effective pole faces, would be shifted outmore effective control of the flux distribution in the pole members I l.

I have also found that a secondary control may be provided by positioning one or more additional shunt members between the same pole members. In Fig. 4, I have shown an additional shunt 15 positioned above the primary shunt member 62. The shunt I5 is proportioned to saturate when the flux passing through the pole members ll rises above the value necessary to saturate the shunt I2. This may be accomplished in various'ways as by making the shunts l2 and I5 of materials having dissimilar magnetic properties, but I prefer, partly for commercial reasons, to make both members of the same material and introduce a non-magnetic gap in series with the shunt l5 which is larger than that in series with the shunt I2. This is done in the arrangement shown in Fig. 4 by increasing the spacing between the edges of the shunt l5 and the pole members I l above that employed for the shunt l2.

The behavior of the shunt I5 is very similar to that described in connection with Fig. 3 and in my above-mentioned application, but the influence of the shunt I5 is felt only after the shunt H has started to saturate. This results in a still further extension of the control effected by my shunt unit.

Although the shunts l2 and [5 may be entirely separate, I prefer for reasons of simplified manufacture to connect them by a minute tie I6. This tie and the shunts may be formed by a stamping from a single sheet of suitablemagnetic material. It assures that the shunts will retain any spacing which is initially given to them, and greatly simplifies the problem of loeating the shunts on the electromagnet core.

In order to mount the shunts, I prefer to locate them on a sheet of non-magnetic material I! such as brass. The shunts may be attached to. the sheet IT by means of rivets [8 as shown in Fig. 3, the shunts being provided with suitable holes for this purpose. Or the shunts may be fastened by providing them with one or more tabs 2|], the tabs being bent around the brass sheet l1. Although not essential, notches 2| are shown in the sheet H for receiving the tabs 20 and positioning the shunt unit. Instead of placing tabs on the shunt structure, the tabs may be formed as part of the sheet I! and bent around the shunt unit.

The tie member, tabs and holes are so minute that they may be located substantially in any position without materially affecting the flux distribution in the shunts, but I prefer to position them substantially in the neutral plane between the pole members where their influence on the flux distribution is even more negligible. A hole It may be provided, if desired, for minimizing the small effect of the tie I6. This hole may also be employed to receive an attaching rivet. If the rivet is of non-magnetic material, such as brass, instead of magnetic iron, the hole still will compensate somewhat for the tie. If a magnetic rivet is employed, it ordinarily would be too small to affect materially the flux distribution between the extensions l but a small clearance may be left between the rivet and the extensions.

From the theory which I have developed, the operation of my invention may be recapitulated briefly as follows: When a watt-hour meter embodying my invention is operated under moderate power demands, a portion of the flux in the series or current pole members is diverted through the shunts l2, l5. As the power demand increases, the flux densities in the current pole members and shunts increase until at a certain value, at which the meter ordinarily would underregister, the center zone of the shunt l2 saturates (i. e., operates at decreasing permeability). If the power demand continues to increase gradually, the saturated zone of the shunt l2 enlarges gradually towards the ends of the shunt, with a resulting gradual increase in the proportion of the magnetic fiux cutting the disk 6, and a resulting gradual shift of the effective flux in a direction which is the vector sum of the component shifts A, B or A, B. The combined gradual effect of the greater proportion of flux cutting the disk 6, and the increase in the effective torque arm caused by the shift of this flux compensates for the tendency of the meter to under-register.

As the power demand further increases, the center zone of the shunt I (if employed) saturates (operates at decreasing permeability) at a predetermined value, and this saturated zone in turn gradually enlarges towards the ends of the shunt. This also results in an increase in the proportion of the total flux cutting the disk 6 and in a shift of the flux outwardly. Therefore, a continuation of the compensation derived from the shunt I2 is provided by the shunt 15.

By proper selection of the flux values at which the shunts are to start saturating, and by the proper proportio-ning of the shunts to start saturating at these values, an extended range of accurate operation can be obtained. In certain cases, it may be desirable to omit the magnetic extension In underlying either or both the shunts ID with an accompanying restriction in the corrective control exercised by the shunt unit.

I have shown the extensions H as integral with the pole members H, but they may be formed separately. Furthermore, one of the extensions may be omitted and a single extension used. This construction is shown in Fig. 7 which illustrates a pole member H corresponding to the pole l I of Fig. 3, but provided with a separate magnetic extension 59' underlying the shunt l2 and spacer I3.

Although two shunts are shown in Fig. 4, it is apparent that any number of shunts may be used and designed to saturate in any desired order according to the nature and amount of the errors for which compensation is required.

Wherever the term saturated is used, it carries the cannotation of decremental permeability or effective decrease in permeability or relatively fast reduction in permeability.

Although I have described my invention with reference to certain specific embodiments thereof, it is obvious that many modifications thereof are possible, and I do not desire my invention to be restricted except as required by the appended claims when interpreted in view of the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an electromotive device, a magnetic structure for generating a variable magnetic flux, and a magnetic-flux responsive device positioned in the path of said magnetic flux and rotatable with respect to said magnetic structure, said magnetic structure comprising at least two parallel portions designed to saturate at different values of said variable magnetic flux, the portion which saturates first being positioned nearer than the other of said portions to the axis of rotation of said device.

2. In an electromotive device, a magnetic structure for generating a variable magnetic flux, and a magnetic-flux responsive device positioned in the path of said magnetic flux and rotatable with respect to said magnetic structure, said magnetic structure comprising at least two parallel portions designed to saturate at different values of said variable magnetic flux, the portion which saturates first being positioned nearer than the other of said portions to the axis of rotation of said device, and means for'controlling the flux distribution in at least one of said portions for causing said last-named portion to saturate progressively in a gradually enlarging section as said variable magnetic flux increases.

3. In an electromotive device, a magnetic structure for generating a variable magnetic flux, and a magnetic-flux responsive device positioned in the path of said magnetic flux and rotatable with respect to said magnetic structure, said magnetic structure comprising at least two parallel portions designed to saturate at different values of said variable magnetic flux, the portion which saturates first being positioned nearer than the other of said portions to the axis of rotation of said device, and means for controlling the flux distribution in at least one of said portions for causing said last-named portion to saturate from a point near said axis of rotation gradually towards a point more distant from said axis of rotation.

4. In an electromotive device, a magnetic structure for generating a variable magnetic flux, a magnetic-flux responsive device positioned in the path of said magnetic flux and rotatable with respect to said magnetic structure, and a magnetic member positioned adjacent said flux-responsive device for bypassing a portion of said magnetic flux away from said device, the portion of the flux bypassed being nearer than the remainder of the magnetic flux to the axis of rotation of said flux-responsive device, said magnetic member being proportioned to saturate within the range of variation of said variable magnetic flux before substantial saturation of any other magnetic part traversed by said variable magnetic flux.

5. In an electromotive device, a magnetic structure for generating a variable magnetic flux, a magnetic-flux responsive device positioned in the path of said magnetic flux and rotatable with respect to said magnetic structure, a magnetic member positioned adjacent said flux responsive device for bypassing a portion of said magnetic flux away from said device, the portion of the flux bypassed being nearer than the remainder of the magnetic flux to the, axis of rotation of said flux responsive device, said magnetic member being proportioned to saturate within the range of variation of said variable magnetic flux, and magnetic means underlying a substantial portion of said magnetic member for varying the flux distributicn in said member,

6. In an electromotive device, a magnetic structure for generating a variable magnetic fiux,

a magnetic-flux responsive device positioned in the path of said magnetic flux and rotatable with respect to said magnetic structure, and at least two magnetic elements for bypassing a portion of said magnetic flux away from said device, said elements being designed to saturate at difierent values of said Variable magnetic flux, the element which saturates at the lower value of said magnetic flux being positioned nearer than the other element to the axis of rotation of said de- ,tion therein,

vice, at least one of said elements being positioned in the path of magnetic flux normally applied to said device.

7. In an induction instrument; a rotatable magnetic-flux responsive disk; a driving means for said disk including a magnetic structure for carrying a variable magnetic flux and having at 7 least two pole members with pole faces lying in a plane adjacent said disk; at least two spaced magnetic shunt elements between said pole members and positioned substantially in said plane,

, said shunt elementsbeing designed to saturate controlling the density of magnetic flux in at least one of said shunt elements from a low value adjacent one of said pole members to a higher value distant from said pole member for light magnetic flux loadings.

8. In an induction instrument; a rotatable magnetic flux responsive disk; a driving means for said disk including a magnetic structure for carrying a variable magnetic flux and having at least two pole members with pole faces adjacent said disk; a plurality of magnetic members extending between said pole members adjacent said pole faces, a non-magnetic spacer positioned on said magnetic members, and a plurality of spaced magnetic shunt elements positioned on said nonmagnetic spacer at different distances from the axis of said disk, said shunt elements being designed to saturate at different values of said variable magnetic flux.

9. In a magnet assembly, a pair of magnet pole members for carrying a variable magnetic flux, at least two spaced magnetic elements in parallel between said pole members, said elements being proportioned to saturate at difierent values of the magnetic flux carried by said magnet pole members, and magnetic extension means between said pole members, said magnetic extension means underlying a substantial portion of at least one of said elements for varying the fiux distribution therein.

10. In a magnet assembly, a pair of magnet pole members for carrying a variable magnetic flux, a unitary shunt structure extending between said magnet pole members, said shunt structure comprising a pair of substantially spaced magnetic elements in parallel between said members, one of said elements having a larger non-magnetic gap in series with said magnetic pole members than the other of said elements, both of said elements being designed to saturate within the range of variation of magnetic flux in said magnet pole members.

11. In a magnet assembly, a pair of magnet pole members for carrying a variable magnetic flux, a shunt structure extending between said magnet pole members, said shunt structure comprising a pair of spaced magnetic elements in parallel between said members, one of said elements having a larger non-magnetic gap in series with said magnetic pole members than the other of said elements, both of said elements being designed to saturate Within the range of variation of magnetic flux in said magnet pole members. and magnetic extension means. underlying and spaced from, a substantial portion of at least one of said elements for varying the flux distribu- 12. A magnetic shunt unit comprising a plurality of spaced magnetic shunt members, and a minute tie element between said shunt members, said members and tie element constituting a unitary structure.

13. In a magnetic shunt unit, a plurality of magnetic shunt members, a minute tie element between said shunt members, said members and tie element constituting a unitary structure, a non-magnetic structure adjacent said unitary structure, and. at least one tab element projecting from one of said structures for uniting said structures.

14. A magnetic shunt unit comprising a spacer or" non-magnetic material and a plurality of magnetic shunt elements positioned thereon, one of said shunt elements being shorter than the remainder of said shunt elements, and said spacer extending beyond both ends of each of said shunt elements.

THOMAS D. BARNES.

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